Montgomery, AL – Alabama's unemployment rate has jumped to 10.7 percent.
The figure reported Friday by the state Department of Industrial Relations is the highest since the state reached 10.9 percent in February 1984.
State Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees said he's disappointed the rate continued to rise in September, but the entire country is experiencing increases due to the recession.
The September rate was up from a revised August rate of 10.3 percent. It was nearly double the 5.4 percent Alabama recorded a year earlier.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Madison at 7.5 percent, Shelby at 7.6 percent, and Coffee at 8.5 percent. Counties with the highest rates were Wilcox at 25.6 percent, Dallas at 21.1 percent, and Perry at 19.8 percent.
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